TORONTO — Life in the grind can sometimes make it easy to lose sight of the bigger picture, and amid the mad scramble to find the Toronto Blue Jays a place to call home this summer, that bigger picture is far too important to miss.
Their looming July 29 ‘home’ opener, now less than a week away, is an albatross that becomes heavier and heavier each moment without a resolution. There’s a toll for players, stress for coaches as they try to map out routines and work schedules, an immense burden for the front office, ambiguity for visiting clubs, and loads of anxiety for Major League Baseball.
To say the pressure is on doesn’t even begin to do it justice.
The under-discussion option of staying in Washington July 29-30 and playing host to the Nationals there, and then flipping the subsequent July 31-Aug. 2 series with the Philadelphia Phillies to Citizens Bank Park, would buy everyone some time, right up to the Blue Jays’ Aug. 11 date with the Miami Marlins. Maybe it’s the breathing room everyone needs.
Still, the real risk here isn’t to the sanctity of the baseball schedule or the damage to the Blue Jays’ chances this summer — both of which take hits the longer this drags on — but to the health of players, coaches and staff who may end up on the road for three straight weeks amid a raging pandemic.
Not good.
The main fault of Major League Baseball’s impressively thorough back-to-play protocol is the amount of travel in it, the primary factor that the Canadian government cited in rejecting the Blue Jays’ plan for regular-season games at Rogers Centre on Saturday, and prompted the State of Pennsylvania to turn down a joint proposal with the Pittsburgh Pirates to tenant at PNC Park on Wednesday.
Consider their reasoning:
“Based on the best-available public health advice, we have concluded the cross-border travel required for MLB regular season play would not adequately protect Canadians’ health and safety,” said Marco Mendicino, Canada’s Minister of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship. “Of particular concern, the Toronto Blue Jays would be required to play in locations where the risk of virus transmission remains high.”
“To add travellers to this region for any reason, including for professional sports events, risks residents, visitors and members of both teams,” said Pennsylvania’s health secretary, Dr. Rachel Levine.
The underlying message there is a fear players will vector COVID-19 from one region to another, an issue exacerbated by the Blue Jays visiting the coronavirus hot spots of Florida and Georgia in the next two weeks, but also playing clubs who have been there, too.
Despite that, critics described the decisions as politically motivated or alarmist. There’s a case to be made for both, and I examined the issue about a month ago.
At the same time, there’s sound reasoning for caution, as well, as Dr. Andrew Morris, medical director of the Antimicrobial Stewardship Program at Sinai Health System/University Health Network and an infectious diseases professor at the University of Toronto, explained.
“There are several things that in infectious disease we have known forever,” he said. “One is you get people congregating together, you’re going to have spread. Two is respiratory infections are very transmissible, just like this, and they are more transmissible than people ever believe that they are. And three, when you have lots of mixing, it’s bad for epidemiology, so when you have people moving all over the place, that is a bad policy for infectious-disease management.
“The reason why a virus that came out of Wuhan, China is all over the world,” he added, “is because of migration patterns.”
Now, take away any periods spent at a proper base that gives players a break from road life — needing to find meals, entertainment, social connections and other basic necessities away from home — and it increases their chances of both contracting and spreading disease.
That’s why the barnstorming possibility first suggested by ESPN’s Buster Olney, where the Blue Jays would play their entire home schedule as the host team at the stadium of their opponent, is a reckless idea.
The Blue Jays are looking at alternative options to Pittsburgh, including going to the city of each scheduled opponent and playing as the home team.
If they used the 60-game road trip plan, the Blue Jays would never be in one spot for more than four days until Sept. 7-17, when they are set to host the Yankees and Mets and then visit the Yankees. Such a schedule is not only a competitive disadvantage, it’s a threat to both the Blue Jays and public health.
So, for the good of the Blue Jays and the communities they visit, a proper home needs to be found for them, one that gives them an opportunity to spend time sheltering safely when they’re not at work.
To that end, the club is revisiting its previous groundwork looking into Baltimore’s Camden Yards, while Buffalo’s Sahlen Field, home to the Blue Jays’ triple-A affiliate, remains a reluctant emergency fallback that needs substantial infrastructure investment to meet both big-league standards and COVID-19 protocols.
The Blue Jays also looked into bouncing between Yankee Stadium and Citi Field, although a multi-stadium plan is less ideal because it means more temporary elements such as third clubhouses are needed.
If the logistical issues can be cleared up — and they are plentiful at any big-league park — the Orioles’ home schedule matches up well with the Blue Jays’ home schedule. The only conflicts are July 29-Aug. 2 and Aug. 14-16, but figuring out where to set up an alternative clubhouse, where to locate the clubs and ensuring all protocols are followed requires time that no one has.
Team president and CEO Mark Shapiro made clear Saturday, following the Canadian government’s decision, that his team’s health and safety would be the top priority, but the situation now is no longer fully under his control.
Opening day starter Hyun-Jin Ryu, again providing a voice of reason, emphasized how the uncertainty of where the Blue Jays play was a collective challenge for the whole organization, not just players, but added, “we just have to remember that we’re going to grind for two months instead of an 162-game season. If we can rally together and work as a team, we should get by fine.”
“This is something we’ve never had to deal with in the past, but honestly, this season is all about (the challenges) that we experience and overcoming them,” he continued. “It’s going to be difficult but I trust my teammates and I think we’ll be able to rally around just because it’s an unprecedented season.”
There’s little doubt about that, and manager Charlie Montoyo pointed to the health challenges his endearing son Alex has faced his entire life as perspective for the Blue Jays’ current woes, saying, “I’ve gone through worse, so it could be worse.”
Still, both he and the rest of the coaching staff have been “communicating with the players, talking to them and staying positive,” he said. “You have no control over what’s going on, just play the game, play to win and keep going. We’ll see where we’re going to play. Don’t worry about the stuff you can’t control. That’s what we’re mainly saying to all of them. And they’ve been really good. They really have. They deserve a lot of credit.”
More than credit, they deserve a home, and their plight is a reminder of how hard staging a season amid a pandemic is going to be. Major League Baseball and the players decided to make it even harder by adding a travel element to the mix, and now health officials in both Canada and Pennsylvania have said thanks but no thanks.
That’s quite troubling from a baseball perspective. In terms of health and safety, it may be even worse.
GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic fell 6-4, 6-3 to Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open tennis tournament on Friday.
The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., won 61 per cent of her first-serve points and broke on just one of her six opportunities.
Stakusic had upset top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) on Thursday night to advance.
In the opening round, Stakusic defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.
The fifth-seeded Frech won 62 per cent of her first-serve points and converted on three of her nine break point opportunities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Alejandro Kirk’s long single with the bases loaded provided the Toronto Blue Jays with a walk-off 4-3 win in the 11th inning of their series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.
With the Cardinals outfield in, Kirk drove a shot off the base of the left-field wall to give the Blue Jays (70-78) their fourth win in 11 outings and halt the Cardinals’ (74-73) two-game win streak before 30,380 at Rogers Centre.
Kirk enjoyed a two-hit, two-RBI outing.
Erik Swanson (2-2) pitched a perfect 11th inning for the win, while Cardinals reliever Ryan Fernandez (1-5) took the loss.
Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman enjoyed a seven-inning, 104-pitch outing. He surrendered his two runs on nine hits and two walks and fanned only two Cardinals.
He gave way to reliever Genesis Cabrera, who gave up a one-out homer to Thomas Saggese, his first in 2024, that tied the game in the eighth.
The Cardinals started swiftly with four straight singles to open the game. But they exited the first inning with only two runs on an RBI single to centre from Nolan Arendao and a fielder’s choice from Saggese.
Gausman required 28 pitches to escape the first inning but settled down to allow his teammates to snatch the lead in the fourth.
He also deftly pitched out of threats from the visitors in the fifth, sixth and seventh thanks to some solid defence, including Will Wagner’s diving stop, which led to a double play to end the fifth inning.
George Springer led off with a walk and stole second base. He advanced to third on Nathan Lukes’s single and scored when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. knocked in his 95th run with a double off the left-field wall.
Lukes scored on a sacrifice fly to left field from Spencer Horwitz. Guerrero touched home on Kirk’s two-out single to right.
In the ninth, Guerrero made a critical diving catch on an Arenado grounder to throw out the Cardinals’ infielder, with reliever Tommy Nance covering first. The defensive gem ended the inning with a runner on second base.
St. Louis starter Erick Fedde faced the minimum night batters in the first three innings thanks to a pair of double plays. He lasted five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
ON DECK
Toronto ace Jose Berrios (15-9) will start the second of the three-game series on Saturday. He has a six-game win streak.
The Cardinals will counter with righty Kyle Gibson (8-6).
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
CALGARY – Mired in their first four-game losing skid in 20 years, the Calgary Stampeders are going back to Jake Maier at quarterback on Saturday after he was benched for a game.
It won’t be an easy assignment.
Visiting McMahon Stadium are the Eastern Conference-leading Montreal Alouettes (10-2) who own the CFL’s best record. The Stampeders (4-8) have fallen to last in the Western Conference.
“Six games is plenty of time, but also it is just six games,” said Maier. “We’ve got to be able to get on the right track.”
Calgary is in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2004.
“I do still believe in this team,” said Stampeders’ head coach and general manager Dave Dickenson. “I want to see improvement, though. I want to see guys on a weekly basis elevating their game, and we haven’t been doing that.”
Maier is one of the guys under the microscope. Two weeks ago, the second-year starter threw four interceptions in a 35-20 home loss to the Edmonton Elks.
After his replacement, rookie Logan Bonner, threw five picks in last week’s 37-16 loss to the Elks in Edmonton, the football is back in Maier’s hands.
“Any time you fail or something doesn’t go your way in life, does it stink in the moment? Yeah. But then the days go on and you learn things about yourself and you learn how to prepare a little bit better,” said Maier. “It makes you mentally tougher.”
Dickenson wants to see his quarterback making better decisions with the football.
“Things are going to happen, interceptions will happen, but try to take calculated risks, rather than just putting the ball up there and hoping that we catch it,” said Dickenson.
A former quarterback himself, he knows the importance of that vital position.
“You cannot win without good quarterback play,” Dickenson said. “You’ve got to be able to make some plays — off-schedule plays, move-around plays, plays that break down, plays that aren’t designed perfectly, but somehow you found the right guy, and then those big throws where you’re taking that hit.”
But it’s going to take a team effort, and that includes the club’s receiving corp.
“We always have to band together because we need everything to go right for our receivers to get the ball,” said Nik Lewis, the Stampeders’ receivers coach. “The running back has to pick up the blitz, the o-line has to block, the quarterback has to make the right reads, and then give us a catchable ball.”
Lewis brings a unique perspective to this season’s frustrations as he was a 22-year-old rookie in Calgary in 2004 when the Stamps went 4-14 under coach Matt Dunigan. They turned it around the next season and haven’t missed the playoffs since.”
“Thinking back and just looking at it, there’s just got to be an ultimate belief that you can get it done. Look at Montreal, they were 6-7 last year and they’ve gone 18-2 since then,” said Lewis.
Montreal is also looking to rebound from a 37-23 loss to the B.C. Lions last week. But for head coach Jason Maas, he says his team’s mindset doesn’t change, regardless of what happened the previous week.
“Last year when we went through a four-game losing streak, you couldn’t tell if we were on a four-game winning streak or a four-game losing streak by the way the guys were in the building, the way we prepared, the type of work ethic we have,” said Maas. “All our standards are set, so that’s all we focus on.”
While they may have already clinched a playoff spot, Alouettes’ quarterback Cody Fajardo says this closing stretch remains critical because they want to finish the season strong, just like last year when they won their final five regular-season games before ultimately winning the Grey Cup.
“It doesn’t matter about what you do at the beginning of the year,” said Fajardo. “All that matters is how you end the year and how well you’re playing going into the playoffs so that’s what these games are about.”
The Alouettes’ are kicking off a three-game road stretch, one Fajardo looks forward to.
“You understand what kind of team you have when you play on the road because it’s us versus the world mentality and you can feel everybody against you,” said Fajardo. “Plus, I always tend to find more joy in silencing thousands of people than bringing thousands of people to their feet.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
